Stephen Wright
New
Yikes!Perhaps it's worth remembering that in the entirety of biology, the building blocks appear to be nothing other than the 'physical' (atoms, molecules etc.)
Yes - I know the idea that the universe we inhabit has measurements other than physics/chemistry is not main-stream dogma, but just look at the subject matter of D. Dennett's book to find where we are in the new paradigm. Dennett is relying on affordances and memes as a basis for his arguments. These are building blocks of structured information and not of forces and mass.
John Von Neumann told us that communication theory, logic and thermodynamics form an identity (a unified LoA), as we understand the structure of functional events. These 3 (and many more informational measures) are at a different level of abstraction (LoA) for assessment of functional processes; than are chemistry and physics. They describe how experiencing and organizing environments can be measured! These principles are the tools of living things with which to bring to bear useful behaviors in responding to their environments.
Science can model the chemistry of DNA/RNA/Ribosome reactions and not get at how they function to enforce the logic of health, sexual reproduction, food-gathering and bio-communication in the least. These essential processes are measured by bits, future planning and feedback.
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